Alone Together
by wuthermyheights
Summary: When a wolf imprints on Bella, what will happen when they are left alone together?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Mine

"Go away, Bella. You shouldn't be here."

Bella slowly tried to process the words that her best friend just said as he turned back into his house and shut the door in her face. She closed her eyes for a moment as the waves of sadness washed over her. She couldn't understand how Jacob, her Jacob, could turn her away. Dejected, she made her way down the steps and turned toward her truck.

A noise made her look up and she saw a group of men standing at the edge of the tree line. They were all shirtless and looked menacing, but Bella narrowed her eyes as she recognized Sam Uley. All at once, her sadness transformed into anger. How dare they force Jacob into their cult! Without thinking, she stormed towards the group, but her eyes never left Sam.

"What the hell have you done to him?" she yelled as she advanced.

"I didn't do anything to Jacob, Bella. You need to respect his wishes and go home." Sam said calmly.

Bella finally stopped a few steps in front of him and paused as she realized just how tall all of these men were. She glanced over to look at the others and was startled when she recognized another.

"Quil? What happened to you? You're a part of this too?" She demanded.

Quil didn't respond, he just looked away to avoid the betrayal he saw in his former friend's eyes. This only set the flame to Bella's anger again.

She zeroed back on Sam.

"I don't know what you've done to these guys, but it's got to stop. If you're giving them steroids or some other kind of drugs, I'll tell my dad. I won't let you mess with my friends."

From somewhere behind Sam, Bella heard a scoff.

"They'll survive without your friendship, leech lover, so why don't you listen to Black and get out of here."

Bella stopped short when she registered the insult.

"Leech lover?" she whispered.

Sam saw her face and then yelled to the guy standing behind him.

"Enough, Paul."

"Dammit Sam, you're being too nice. She obviously won't take a hint. Maybe she'll understand it if we put her scrawny ass back into her truck!" Paul said as he walked towards Bella with purpose.

Bella noticed that this guy was thinner than Jacob and Sam but looked just as powerful. No, lethal. She shivered as fear finally registered when she saw that he was standing right in front of her. He started talking again, hate dripping with every word.

"Well, are you actually going to make me move you myself?"

Bella forced herself to look at his face. She was surprised by how handsome he was, even as he was scowling. But the moment she looked him in the eye, his face changed completely. He looked stunned, even stumbled back a step.

She continued to watch him, confused and then Sam spoke up again, apparently unaware of his friend's condition.

"Leave it, Paul. Come on Bella, I'll walk you to your truck." Sam stepped forward and reached out toward Bella. Suddenly, a vicious growl tore through the air.

"MINE."

Faster than Bella could blink, Paul had pulled her behind him and turned to face off with Sam.

Confusion was apparent on all the other's faces. Sam looked at Paul, astonished to find his eyes glowing yellow as he continued to growl.

"Whoa, whoa…Paul, I don't know what's going on right now but you need to calm down." Sam said, infusing the words with his Alpha command.

"MINE." Was the only response that he received as Paul backed up further so that he was bumping into Bella. Bella was about to complain about his proximity when Paul stopped and looked over his shoulder towards the Black's house. Bella turned to see the door open and then Jacob stepped onto the porch. He took one look at Paul's stance in front of Bella and then yelled, "No!".

Bella thought she heard Quil mutter, "Oh shit." And then everything happened at once. She saw Jacob jump off of the porch and start running towards her but, most shocking, was the feeling that she no longer touched the ground. She whipped her face around and realized that Paul had lifted her into his arms and ran straight into the woods. Jacob was catching up quickly, with the remaining guys following behind.

Bella was so confused by what was happening that she couldn't even yell. They were moving much too fast for a human. The speed reminded her of when Edward would run with her on his back, but this was totally different. Paul was cradling her to his chest and panting as he ran.

Suddenly, he stopped. She was quickly put behind him once again. She realized that he stopped at an enormous tree. The trunk was the width of a car and there was a hollowed-out space, almost like a cave. Bella finally found her voice.

"What are you doing, Paul?" she demanded.

He turned around and looked at her with glowing yellow eyes. Bella caught her breath as she backed up but he immediately shot his hand out to her arm.

"MINE." Was his only response.

Jacob stopped a few feet in front of them but when he heard Paul's one word response, he made a terrifying sound and then burst into the largest wolf Bella had ever seen. She thought she must have been hallucinating but then Paul gently pushed her further into the tree, never taking his eyes off of the wolf in front of him. Bella heard him say "STAY," over his shoulder to her, before he took two giant steps forward and burst into a silver wolf almost as large as Jacob.

Bella slid to the ground and pulled her knees towards her, trying to stay away from the silver wolf. Jacob was pacing back and forth, trying to make his way around Paul. Paul stood his ground in front of Bella following Jacob with his yellow eyes and growling fiercely.

Finally, Sam and the rest of the guys arrived. Sam took one look at the scene and called out an order, "Jacob, Paul, stand down NOW."

Jacob's wolf immediately stopped pacing and lowered to the ground under the weight of the order. However, Paul's wolf never moved from his stance or stopped growling.

Sam's brow furrowed. He looked around the wolf to see Bella sitting against the tree.

"Bella, are you okay?" He asked gently.

Bella stood up, but Paul's wolf turned back to her and growled. She moved back as close to the tree as possible in fear.

"I'm…I'm okay Sam but what is going on? Are you all wolves? Why did Paul take me?" She asked desperately.

Sam wiped his hands over his face before answering.

"Yes, we are all wolves. You know some of our tribe's stories. We are the new protectors of our people."

"Protectors? Oh, Paul called me a leech lover…" she whispered as she realized just what they protected the tribe against.

Sam nodded when he saw her understanding. He took a step towards her, but Paul's wolf immediately began growling fiercely with spit flying from his jaws.

Sam put his hands out, trying to placate the wolf.

"Paul, you need to calm down. Phase back so that we can talk about this." Sam said imploringly.

The wolf showed no change and continued to stare and growl at Sam.

"What's going on Sam? Why won't Paul leave me alone?" Bella asked.

"Bella, I think that Paul imprinted on you. It's something that can happen to protectors when their wolf recognizes their perfect mate. It's a gift, actually." He said quietly.

"Gift? Mate? Are you serious? He looks like he wants to kill me!" She yelled.

Paul's wolf wined and turned to look at her. She could almost see the hurt in his yellow eyes. Seeing the wolf's distraction, Sam took a step forward. It was a big mistake. The wolf immediately turned his attention back to Sam and started backing up more until his tail was against Bella.

Sam sighed.

"Bella, we will work this out but, right now, Paul's wolf is consumed with thoughts of your safety. He's not going to let any of us near you and he won't let you go when he thinks that there's a threat to you. His wolf is so out of control that he didn't respond to any of my commands."

"What do I do then?" She asked.

"I think that it might be best for us to leave. Give him time to calm down and see that there is no threat to you. Then he can change back, and we can talk about this. I know it's asking a lot for you to be patient, but I think it might be the best way."

"You're going to leave me? Alone together…with this wolf?" She asked quietly.

"We will be keeping watch. I know he looks frightening right now but it's because he wants to keep you safe. He won't knowingly hurt you. My concern is that if we try to remove you from him right now, he will fight us, and you could get hurt. Once the perceived threat is gone, he should calm down."

"Okay, Sam. I guess I don't really have a choice." She said, resigned.

She watched as the group slowly walked away, straining her eyes to follow them until they finally disappeared from her sight. Paul's growling continued a little longer than that. She slowly slid down the tree again which brought the silver wolf's attention back to her. Once he realized that she wasn't trying to leave, he stopped growling. Bella sat on the ground, once again pulling her knees to her chest to put something between her and the wolf. He moved so that the side of his body was touching her legs and then laid down at her feet, like a giant dog wanting to be near his owner.

Bella gradually began to relax now that the wolf didn't appear like a killing machine. It started to rain after a while and she tried to listen to the raindrops and the sounds of the forest instead of thinking about this fucked up situation. When she couldn't handle the silence any longer, she started talking out loud to Paul. Sam had spoken to the wolf, expecting him to understand so Bella assumed that she could do the same.

"So…this is pretty fucked up Paul." She said quietly. As soon as the wolf heard her voice, he turned his head towards her. His eyes were still glowing yellow.

"This is crazy. I finally get all of the vampires out of my life and now this. I don't know what's wrong with me."

The wolf whined in response and rubbed his nose against her leg before setting his head back down on his front legs. His eyes never left her.

As she stared down at him, she started to think of his situation.

"Then again, this must be even crazier for you guys. I wonder if you even knew it would happen? Probably not, I mean, Jacob certainly didn't expect to turn into a wolf. He laughed at those stories when he first told them to me."

"It must have been scary when it first happened." She thought aloud.

She didn't know why but his eyes seemed sadder somehow now. Before she even knew what she was doing, she had reached out her hand and started to pet his fur.

"You're so soft. I wouldn't have expected it because you look so…well, I'm just surprised. Is it okay if I pet you like this?"

The wolf only responded by closing his eyes and moving his head closer towards her. Bella continued to stroke the wolf's coat while she looked out over the forest and wondered what would happen next. At least, for now, she felt more at peace. The wolf was calm, and Sam had said that that should allow Paul to change back. She only needed to wait. But how long?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Bella opened her eyes to find that night had come. It took her a moment to remember where she was. It all came back to her when she felt the soft furry pillow beneath her head. Suddenly she realized that she had fallen asleep and the wolf was now wrapped around her. Her body was half laying on him. She couldn't deny that she felt very warm and safe, but the forest had changed with nightfall. What had appeared peaceful and calming in the daylight, now looked foreboding. She lifted her head slowly to try and move away from the wolf and make her way out of the woods. The moment she leaned up to stand, the wolf popped his head up. When she tried to slowly stand, he began a low growl. She sat back down with a huff and his growling stopped.

"Paul! How long do you expect me to stay out here?" She said, exasperated.

Of course, there was no response. She sat there, still half surrounded by the wolf. She started to worry, wondering what her father must think after not finding her at home today. She had already put Charlie through so much after Edward left. Her poor dad, doing whatever he could to make her well again. She could see how relieved he had been once she started leaving the house again and talking. And, now…she couldn't stop the tears when she thought of him. The wolf started whining again and it brought her attention back to him.

"I know that you can't help this either, but my dad must be so worried!"

The wolf moved his head closer to her and shocked her when he licked her cheek.

"Ew, gross Paul." She said as she wiped the slobber off her face. The wolf continued to whine until she laid her head back down.

"Fine, I'll lay back down but please try to change back soon. I can't worry Charlie like this again."

Bella drifted back asleep quickly, but the wolf continued to watch over her.

The next time Bella woke up, the sun was already rising. The air was cool, but she still felt the comforting heat from Paul. With a jolt, she realized that her cheek wasn't laying on fur anymore but skin. She was facing out towards the forest, but she could see that her head rested on a very tan arm beneath her. Looking down she saw that the matching arm was resting across her middle, holding her against him. The awkwardness of the situation was settling in as she realized that she was being held by basically a stranger in the middle of the woods. A stranger who called her a leech lover. A naked stranger. As her heart rate spiked, she felt him stir behind her.

"I know that you're awake." He said with a raspy voice.

Bella didn't know how to respond. She just held still trying to think of something to say. She was just settling on demanding to be let go when he spoke again.

"Please." He whispered. She felt her hair move from his breath.

"What?" she asked.

"I…I know how fucked up this is, and I know that you want to get away from me as soon as possible but…please, just give me a little more time. I'm exhausted. I was only just able to change back. I've never been so completely controlled by my wolf before and I'm worried if you run from me that…" He didn't finish what he was worried about, but Bella was able to guess.

"You're worried that your wolf will come out again to keep me?" she guessed.

She felt him nod his head from behind her. She was silent for a moment as she thought about how best to proceed.

"Okay…but we need to figure this out soon because I'm sure that my dad is looking for me."

She feels him nod his head and tighten the hold he has around her waist. She hears him breathe in deeply and sigh in contentment. Unfortunately, she is unable to relax back into slumber. She feels his breath in her hair. She feels the pressure of his legs directly behind her own. But, mostly, she feels the slow movement of his thumb as it swipes back and forth on the sliver of exposed skin below the hem of her shirt.

As she lays there, Bella begins to think about this stranger laying behind her. She cannot deny that he terrifies her. His look yesterday was murderous and the contempt that he felt towards her when he called her leech-lover was obvious. Yet, Sam had said that he now thinks that she's this wolf's imprint. But what exactly does that mean?

Her stomach makes an almost inhuman noise of its own. Heat floods her face and then she feels him shift behind her.

"You're hungry." He states quietly. It's not a question, just a statement so Bella decides no reply is needed.

"Damn it…I can't do anything right." He growls. Bella couldn't explain it but her heart hurt hearing his self-recrimination.

"Hey, it's okay. You said that you couldn't control what happened." She whispered.

"Are you seriously defending me? I kept you out here in the cold and didn't even feed you!"

Bella stiffened hearing the anger in his words.

"Come on, we need to get you some food." He said as she felt him slowly slide his arm from her body. Bella took a moment to stand and swipe away some of the dirt and leaves stuck to her clothes. She turned around only to immediately turn back. Oh yeah, he's naked. She had forgotten that for a moment. Hearing his chuckle, her face flamed. She started to step away when his hand darted out to stop her.

"Wait…wait…can I just…hold your hand while we walk back?"

His voice was soft again, completely opposite of his angry tone earlier. She was exasperated with the whole situation, but she couldn't ignore his quiet plea.

"I guess that would be okay."

She slowly feels him take her hand. She refuses to look at him while he's naked, so she concentrates on the path ahead of them as they start walking. After a short amount of time, he stops and looks to their left.

Moving quickly to a tree a few feet away, he picks something up from the ground and walks back to her.

"Here, they left some food for us and some shorts for me." He says as he hands her a bag. Relief floods her when he quickly pulls on the shorts. Looking into the bag, she's happy to see a couple bottles of water and some fruit and granola bars. She opens one of the bottles and drinks deeply. She grabs the other bottle and hands it towards Paul.

"No, you keep that in case you need more."

She puts the bottle back into the bag and then Paul takes the bag from her and slides his hand into hers again. She finishes the bottle of water quickly and he takes the empty bottle from her and then hands her an apple from the bag. She's surprised by how long they need to walk before she sees the Blacks house through a break in the trees. Before they get to the tree line, he stops her and pulls her into his side once again. She can feel the tremors shaking his body and then a low growl from him. She doesn't understand what happened until she sees Sam walking slowly towards them.

Sam's face is completely neutral even as the sound coming from Paul increases. He stops a few feet away from them and stares first at Paul and then to Bella. His gaze sweeps her body. 

"Bella, are you okay?" He asks with a gentleness that conflicts with his stern look.

Before she can respond, Paul barks out "She is mine," before continuing to growl.

Desperately, Bella turns to him and lays her hand on his shoulder. His growling abruptly ceases as all of his attention is captured by her hand on his body.

"Paul, please, don't do this again. Please, I need to talk to my dad, remember?"

He looks at her and she can almost see the fight within him. Finally, he nods once and turns back to Sam.

"Bella, I knew that your father would worry about you, so Billy Black called him and let him know that you were staying at the Rez last night."

Relief washes over her at his words and she thanks him. He nods in response.

The three of them turn to walk out of the woods. Bella sees her truck and heads in that direction until she feels a pull on her hand. She looks up to find Paul's eyes on her. 

"Where are you going?" He asks.

"Paul, I told you. I need to go home. I need to clean up, we just spent the night in the woods."

"You can clean up at my house." He states matter-of-factly.

"You can't be serious?" She says, disbelief showing on her face.

"What does that mean? Of course, I'm serious." He says raising his voice.

Before their argument can continue, Sam and Paul look towards the Black's house. Jacob slowly walks onto the porch and then picks up his pace when he sees Bella.

Paul starts to growl again as he moves in front of Bella.

"Bella, honey, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He asks trying to see her around Paul's shaking body.

"Yeah, Jake, I'm fine. But I need to go home and clean up and I don't really understand what's going on right now."

"Come on in. You can clean up and talk to my Dad. We can tell you all about it." He says easily as he reaches out a hand towards her.

"Fuck off, Black." Paul yells.

Jake narrows his eyes as he looks at Paul.

"No. I won't fuck off, Paul. You kept her out all night in the cold. She didn't even have food or water or a blanket out there. She doesn't even know you. She's known my dad and I her whole life."

"She's MY imprint!"

"Then fucking act like it!" Jacob yells back.

Sam finally intervenes.

"That's enough. Jacob, I know that you're concerned for Bella, but this is not helping."

Then, turning his attention on her once again, Sam asks, "Bella, would you consider coming back to my home? I'd like for you to meet my fiancé Emily. She can lend you some clothes and you can clean up there. Then, we could talk about everything."

Bella huffs out a breath but nods her head.

Sam says, "Okay, I'll see you there," and then jogs off.

Bella is about to ask how to get there when Paul holds his hand out to her.

"If you give me your keys, I'll drive you there. I know the way."

She silently hands him the keys and then moves towards the passenger door of her truck. Paul quickly hops in and starts the truck up. Just as Bella is closing her door, it stops. She looks up to find Jacob standing there with his hand on the door.

"You can come back here afterwards if you want, honey." Jacob says softly.

"Thanks Jake." She mumbled before she feels the truck jerk forward. Her door slams shut with the motion of them quickly peeling out of the gravel drive.

She turns accusing eyes to Paul.

"Why did you do that? You could have hurt him!"

"Sorry I interrupted his invitation for you to join him later, _honey_." He says sarcastically.

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. She's tired and annoyed. She turns her body away from him and looks out the window watching the little Rez houses slowly pass by.

Before long, Paul puts his arm up on the back of the seat. Then she feels his fingertips start to gently rub along the back of her neck. She glances over to see that he's still scowling as he drives one handed. But with each gentle touch of his fingers across her neck, the tightness in her chest relaxes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Paul pulled onto the dirt path that led to a little white house. Bella noticed right away that the house was nicer than most around the Rez. The porch was large and inviting with several chairs and a bench swing. A few flower pots surrounded the entrance and seeing the dots of color brought a smile to Bella's face. The truck came to a stop and Paul quickly pulled the parking break. Before Bella could open the door, she felt a small tug on her hand. Looking over, she saw that Paul's jaw was tight and he was staring straight ahead but his hand was gently holding hers.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry I lost my cool back there. I can't promise you that it won't happen again. But…I don't want you to be afraid of me."

Bella could see the effort it took him to say this. He finally turned to look straight into her eyes. Bella struggled to maintain eye contact with his intense stare. She only nodded and then moved to get out of the truck.

They walked up the path together. When they reached the steps, the door opened to reveal a petite woman. She had long hair, braided loosely and a radiant smile. Bella was startled to see three jagged scars across one side of the woman's face. Thankfully, she hid her surprise and only smiled back.

"Good morning! You must be Bella, come right in." She said kindly as she moved to allow them to walk into the house. Paul leaned down to kiss the top of Emily's head in greeting while keeping one hand on Bella's back.

Bella felt her face heat up with the discomfort of walking into a stranger's home like this. She stood awkwardly in the living room that the door opened into.

The woman extended her hand and continued to smile.

"My name is Emily. I'm Sam's fiancé."

"Nice to meet you." Bella replied.

Paul finally spoke up.

"Emily, could Bella use your shower and borrow some clothes?"

"Oh, of course! It's right through here Bella. I'll set some clothes on the counter for you. Please make yourself at home." Emily said as she gestured to the bathroom in the hallway.

Bella thanked her as she made her way to the bathroom door. She turned to close the door, only to find Paul standing there. His face like stone once again.

"Paul, you are not coming into the bathroom with me." She said firmly.

He nodded his head stiffly but didn't move away. Bella gently pushed him back a step and closed the door. Exhaling slowly, she took a moment to appreciate privacy for the first time since yesterday. She turned on the shower to allow the water to warm up. Spying the toothpaste on the countertop, she washed her hands and then did her best to brush her teeth with her finger and a bit of toothpaste. She quickly shed her clothes and stepped into the steaming shower. The water felt glorious and she stood still for a few moments under the spray. As she began washing her hair, the events of the past 24 hours started bombarding her mind.

Jacob was a wolf. Her Jacob, her best friend…was a wolf. Paul was a wolf. He was a wolf who thought that Bella belonged to him. An angry, terrifying wolf who basically held her hostage last night. As that thought took root, Bella felt her chest constrict. Suddenly, she couldn't get enough breath in her lungs and leaned back against the wall trying to calm down. She heard a quick knock on the door.

"Bella? Are you okay in there?" Paul asked urgently.

If anything, this caused Bella's heart to race even more and she leaned her head against the cool tile of the wall, still gasping for breath.

A blast of cold air and a muttered "Damn it" was the only warning she had before Paul was there pulling her to him. He cradled her head against his chest and rubbed her back while softly whispering, "Breathe, Bella. Breathe slowly, you're okay. I have you. You're okay."

Surprisingly, Bella was able to relax and started breathing normally again. She was so relieved but overwhelmed with everything that she started crying. And once she started crying, she found that she couldn't stop.

Paul grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around her before picking her up. He slid down to the floor and held her against him. She continued to cry, even as he did his best to comfort her.

"I can't do it. I can't do this. I don't think that I can survive this again." She sobbed. She felt him stiffen and his hands paused at her back but just for a moment. He didn't respond but began slowly rubbing her back again. When she was finally able to stop crying, he handed her some tissues. She didn't raise her head to look at him. Actually, she looked everywhere but at him. He helped her stand up and then said quietly, "I'll let you finish cleaning up" before he walked out the door.

Bella tried to calm down again and splashed some cold water on her face before drying off and slipping on the dress that Emily had left for her. She did her best to towel dry her hair before finding the courage to leave the bathroom. She walked down the hall to see Sam sitting next to Paul at the kitchen table. Paul's head was in his hands and Sam had a hand on his shoulder. Emily immediately walked to Bella.

"I thought that you might be hungry, so I made some breakfast for us all."

"That was very thoughtful, especially since you must not have been expecting company for breakfast." Bella said quietly. She smiled at Emily but couldn't resist focusing on Paul. He still hadn't looked up.

Emily's small laugh brought her attention back.

"No worries, Bella. It's rare that we don't have guests for meals around here." She said with a wink while gesturing to a chair. Bella sat down. She looked around nervously while Emily placed the food on the table. Sam gave Paul's shoulder a pat before gesturing towards the food.

"Help yourself, Bella. We let others fill their plates before the wolves descend." He said with a smile.

Bella snorted at the joke, but her hunger overruled her embarrassment and she did as he suggested. She noticed that Paul hadn't looked up yet and was bothered by his continued silence even though she didn't know what to say either. Almost without thought, Bella moved her foot under the table until it was next to his. His response was immediate. His head shot up and he stared intently across the table at her.

"This looks great, thanks again Emily." She said softly before digging into her food. Once they all had their fill to eat, Bella decided she was ready for some answers.

"So, imprinting?" She asked.

"Right, imprinting is when the wolf recognizing his one true soul mate. We know from tribal records that it was a rare gift that the spirits blessed the wolves within previous packs."

"Soul mate? But…but what exactly does that mean? You have no choice at all? You're forced to be with someone that you don't even love?"

"It's not so much as forced as it is recognition. The wolf knows beyond a doubt that their imprint is their perfect match. When Paul looked into your eyes yesterday, his wolf imprinted on you." Sam tried to explain.

"I think I need some air." Bella said quickly before standing a walking out to the porch. She leaned over the rail and breathed in deeply. It wasn't long before she heard the screen door shut and Paul leaned against the rail facing her.

"Wow. So, the Spirits are forcing you to love the leech-lover? Taking away all of your choices after turning you into a wolf? You must be thrilled!" She said derisively.

He didn't respond. He just stood looking at her appraisingly. It was unnerving and Bella was getting sick of his silent treatment.

"Well? Are you going to say anything? What do you think of all of this?"

She regretted her outburst when he pushed off of the railing and moved inches from her. She was frozen as he brought his hand up to gently stroke his cheek with his thumb. She could feel his breath against her lips as he spoke.

"I think that you are mine. I think that the spirits blessed me. And…I think that you had better learn to accept that because I am not letting you go."

Before Bella could respond, Paul's lips were on hers. Gentle and demanding…she could not get enough. As he deepened the kiss, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her body closer to his. Never before had Bella felt so desired, so wanted and it healed something deep in her soul.


End file.
